3 Ways to Put off Procrastination

Procrastination. It's everywhere. You might be procrastinating right now.

It isn't just about you being productive at work. There are some serious consequences to procrastination, including unhappiness, stress, breakdowns of personal and professional relationships, and a detrimental impact on self-belief.?

?Does that surprise you? It shouldn't - think of that heavy feeling of fear, of disappointment and frustration that falls over you when you've put off that think you needed to do. Again.

Now imagine everyone on your team, or organisation experiencing that on some level - and think how that impacts overall productivity.

?The financial impact of putting things off suddenly looks a lot bigger.

Productivity Apps? Not likely..

Research shows that?32% of our time at work. also spent procrastinating online as well. And it is quite dangerous just because of the negativity that can come from that and how we feel about ourselves. And when we're not achieving a project, or we put something off that really does affect mental health, and of course, affects other people and relationships and how you how we relate with other people

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I'm going to share with you a couple of techniques and tricks that help you with your procrastination.

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?(This is coming from someone who is is overall a procrastinator. whenever I've been studying or had a deadline, my sock drawer never looked so organised. I had the best pair of socks in the world, I think for the first time in my life despite my mantra being that is too short for matching socks,)

Why do you do it??

There are many reasons that cause procrastinating behaviour. Here are the top three.?

Negative emotions?

?Your amygdala, the part of your brain that deals with your emotions is highly sensitive to the negative actions and the consequences that you are probably acutely aware of. It is a case of your brain issuing negative self-talk,

?“What if it went wrong??

?“I'm not going to do it to the standard that I wanted to do it”

“they're going to say no”

“it's going to be a really difficult and uncomfortable and awkward conversation.”

“I'm really not going to enjoy doing it.”?

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All of those are simply a case of managing your emotions. Let's break that down; in emotional intelligence, the first step is to recognise what you’re feeling.?

Ask your self “what is that? Is it true? Confront your emotions with the facts of the situation (and try not to let your fears speak for other people).?

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Distractions?

?As I mentioned earlier,?every exam I ever had resulted in an extremely well-organised sock drawer. Why? I created busyness to distract me. Things that kind of needed to be done, but actually really didn’t.?

Sound familiar?

Distractions come at every angle these days. Social media, unimportant tasks and even perfectionism is a distraction from getting things done.?

Be aware of the priority and what's going to work.?

What will the consequences be if you don't do it now? Usually, that helps us just put things into perspective in terms of our emotions, as well as being aware of what a trigger is.?

Fear of failure

Fear, of letting people down fear of being disliked, fear of not hitting a high standard. Which of those are triggers for you?

If you're about to go into a situation where you feel that pressure, you are at risk of self-sabotaging yourself with procrastination. Ask yourself; what is it I'm scared of here? What is going on for me?.?

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3 Activities to Boost your Productivity

The next step is to make small changes to alter and anticipate your behaviours so you can feel more confident, positive and productive.?

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1) FUTURE PACE?

?Use this exercise to check in with the consequences and give your fear a reality check. What will happen to you if you do it? What will happen to you if you don’t?. Look at how that affects the future you in two months, six months and so on.?

?Sit with the reality that faces you, and your reality now.

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2) REFRAME

Step away from negative self talk - not just because it;s not doing you any favours, but it also won’t allow your brain to form new habits. Positive chemicals in your brain help forge the new neural pathways, i.e. they make them stick in your brain.?

?Take a look at the task you are avoiding. Take a second to identify one thing that will feel really good, or that you will enjoy.?

?It could be as simple as visualising the moment you finish. How good will it feel to complete it? How will you celebrate it? How proud of yourself will you be??

?Also, be aware of how this affects you in the future. How will the 'you' two months from now be affected??

3) BE AWARE OF TRIGGERS?

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Identify what triggers your procrastination behaviour. Common triggers include overtiredness, overwhelm and burnout.

Take note - when do I procrastinate? What has happened before? Then look at what, and when you are at your most energised and productive. What do you notice??

Sometimes, simply taking that time to get that early night's sleep, or step back and just get some fresh air and take 15 minutes is more productive.

To do that, or even for an hour is much more productive than it will be sitting staring at a screen really slowly, painfully trying to get something done.

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?Here are three ways I can help you have a bigger impact at work:

1) Find out how to have a bigger impact in your professional (and personal ) life? Take?the scorecard? to gauge what will get you closer to your ambitions.?

?2) Is procrastination is limiting your ability to reach your goals then I might be the person to help you. I offer a free call to map what will?get you to your higher performance levers so?you become highly productive and successful.?

Book a call with me here:?Book your call

3) Listen to the podcast episode on Procrastination